Data scientists a “currency for transformation”

Zafirah Salim | Feb. 2, 2016 To have a better understanding of this ‘sexy’ job, I spoke to Vivek Gupta, Microsoft’s senior data scientist, and Vivek Ravindran, Microsoft’s product marketing manager, APAC, to get an insight into what a data scientist actually does, and why they are increasingly crucial in an organisation. According to a recent study of LinkedIn profiles by RJMetrics, the number of data scientists has doubled over the last four years. This reflects the increasing demand for sophisticated data analysis skills, combining computer programming with statistics. The study also found that over 11,000 data scientists are currently employed by companies worldwide, with Microsoft holding the greatest number of jobs with 227 data scientists on board. Dubbed the “sexiest job of the 21st century” by the Harvard Business…